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To summarise: when I last went to sign on for JSA I mentioned my bad back and they advised me to try for ESA so I did and have now been on it for 6 weeks or so.

As a few of you have probably had the dreaded ATOS medical examination, can anyone offer me any tips on what to expect? I managed to get them to agree a home visit to spare me travelling over an hour to Croydon as I can't sit for more than a few minutes without pain. I've also got an MRI scan organised at the end of this month which will hopefully shed some light on what's wrong with me.

The nice guy at the Job Centre said expect to fail the assessment, 80% of people do but you can then appeal. To be honest, being on ESA and having to get monthly doctor certs and all this ATOS stress has been miles worse than signing on every two weeks but what can I do, I can't physically work at the moment

On the assesment (I have back problems too) they asked all sorts, some questions quite random. Some were like "what do u do in your time" and "what hobbies do you have? how often do u socialize, how many friends you got?!" And some "How does your back effect your daily life, can u bend? can do this and that etc". And after all these questions she made me bend around to see what i could/couldn't do.
Oh and I failed, lol.
They aren't kidding about the 80% failure rate. I have been told that even very severe problems don't pass.
But good luck. Try preparing for the questions before u go, I think thats where I went wrong

Thanks for the advice. Even the bloke at the Job Centre said it's a load of bs but they have no control over the whole thing. He mentioned one guy with heart trouble was passed fit to work and died a week later

All this crap in the media at the moment about benefit fraud/cutbacks etc is just adding to the shite of the whole situation

i have had a prolapsed disc for over 15 years & was due to go into hospital to have an operation for this.at my first medical assessment,i was in a lot of pain & was told that i would not have to do any of the things that are normally done at an assessment.
i went into hospital,had the operation the operation was not a success & i have extensive,degenerative nerve damage.& a few weeks later had my second medical assessment, the receptionist at Coventry centre,unknown to me, went into the doctor & said i appeared to be in a lot of pain,which i was, the doctor had me straight in,would not let me do any of the things they normally have to do to assess you,then completed a report stating that i was unfit for employment. i am due my third medical assessment soon. am waiting to go back into hospital for an injection into my spine then again back into hospital for further back surgery.i have been told that after the third assessment, i wont have any more assessments.

I'm considering ESA as signing on every 2wks is stressing me and lets be honest I've no notion of taking a job or applying for one. The only reason I worked was because it was with my father. I can't work with other people most days..

I had a work focused interview on monday and told the girl that I'm really struggling and with things in my personal life my anxiety and depression has got alot worse and she suggested I speak to my GP and try ESA. I'm worried about the medical thing though and how can I possibly prove to someone that I'm an anxious person? Infact I'd prob not even turn up. I've a GP appt next Thurs but I dont think my GP will be keen for me to go on it as he'll no doubt see it as a step backwards and just double my meds again.

This time last year I was on 10mg citalopram, now I'm on 40mg and 80mg propanalol.. only so much more he can give me

I've only ever had one ATOS assessment and that was in december of 2008.

I don't think people who were claiming before september 2008 are having assessments until 2012.

I'm on income support too, have been since 2003...! I have had two or three medical assessments the last few years though, including one back this summer. I failed by one point which meant they wrote to say I wouldn't get national insurance contributions paid any more and I then successfully appealed. It made me very angry as apparently the one bit I failed was that I could use the phone, after I had explained in the medical that I found using the phone very difficult most of the time! I had come away from it feeling confident-ish too. Offering advice seems a bit useless when it's all so arbitrary. Just answer the questions as if you're having your worst day ever, as I was advised by a CPN once

I'm considering ESA as signing on every 2wks is stressing me and lets be honest I've no notion of taking a job or applying for one. The only reason I worked was because it was with my father. I can't work with other people most days..

I had a work focused interview on monday and told the girl that I'm really struggling and with things in my personal life my anxiety and depression has got alot worse and she suggested I speak to my GP and try ESA. I'm worried about the medical thing though and how can I possibly prove to someone that I'm an anxious person? Infact I'd prob not even turn up. I've a GP appt next Thurs but I dont think my GP will be keen for me to go on it as he'll no doubt see it as a step backwards and just double my meds again.

This time last year I was on 10mg citalopram, now I'm on 40mg and 80mg propanalol.. only so much more he can give me

Sorry I mentioned I passed the ESA medical but it was in another thread. I was amazed when I got the letter but it's left me feeling in limbo a bit.

I've also had my MRI scan results back and was gutted when they came back as normal and no action required. My family have tried to convince me that's good news as there's nothing seriously wrong with my spine but that doesn't help me as the pain is still there

I've spent hours googling stuff on the net and it could be so many things wrong and it's depressing. It looks like paying through the nose for private chiropractor therapy is next as physio didn't help me (and I don't think the NHS use chiropractors). I really can't afford £30 to £80 a session

Since I got the ESA pass letter through I've not heard from the Job Centre but it's only been a couple of weeks. I've no idea what happens next but I'm mentally preparing myself for picking up litter in a bright orange jumpsuit this time next year.

Hey just though I would give my input. I had a ATOS medical assessment for my social anxiety and I failed. I scored 12/15. You have to score 15 points to qualify for ESA.

The test itself its a complete joke, They ask the most irrelevant questions. they want to know if you can cope with change, So the question to that is could you handle getting up at a different time or eating breakfast at a different time.

Hey just though I would give my input. I had a ATOS medical assessment for my social anxiety and I failed. I scored 12/15. You have to score 15 points to qualify for ESA.

The test itself its a complete joke, They ask the most irrelevant questions. they want to know if you can cope with change, So the question to that is could you handle getting up at a different time or eating breakfast at a different time.

Not sure if you still post but...how did it go being seen at home?
I received a letter and it clashes with my hospital appt. The woman said you can have a home visit if you have a doctor's letter. I'm thinking of giving my claim up because the place you are expected to go is miles away , in a busy area and i'm not up to it.

It went ok. I had to get a letter from my doctor saying I wasn't fit to travel and fax it to them and then post the original. I phoned to confirm they received the fax when I got home and they told me they never received it so I had to re-send it. Days later I found out they'd given me the wrong fax number and address so I had to fax it a 3rd time, and get the doctor to write a new letter for me. I swear it's all delaying tactics to put you off.

I had an Indian guy turn up to do the assessment and he was pleasant enough. I'd prepared myself thoroughly for the whole thing - I'd not shaved for a few days, didn't answer the door myself and laid all the medical stuff I've bought over the years out on the dining room table. I answered all his questions as if it was on my worst health day and asked if I could lie on the sofa after about 10mins of being questioned at the table. He caught me out a few times with his questions but luckily I passed the medical.

I've had three Pathway To Work interviews since then, where I've had a decent CV written up and I'm back to looking for part time work. No idea if I'll physically be able to do anything as I can't tell till I start. I'm fully aware that they'll be reassessing me any day now as it's been about 6 mths and my advisor has told me to expect to fail on the 2nd assessment. I don't intend to appeal or even go for a 2nd assessment to be honest as it's all so stressful. I'm preparing to either get a part time job, live off savings again for a few months or sign back on for JSA.